Transcript Ukielski Slides

Between two totalitarianisms.
Poland in the World War II
Paweł Ukielski Ph.D.
Soviet Minister of Int.
Affairs, Molotov, is signing
the German-Soviet NonAggression Pact, Moscow,
August 23, 1939.
Secret Protocol
Map of divided Poland
attached to the Hitler
– Stalin Pact. Thick
black line in the
middle marks the
German - Soviet
border.
German (Sept. 1, 1939) and Soviet invasion of
Poland (Sept. 17, 1939). Black and red arrows
mark the main axes of attack
The fourth
partition of
Poland
Polish 303 Fighter Squadron during Battle of Britain achieved the
highest numbers of kills of any allied squadron
German occupation of Poland – one of
thousands of street executions, Warsaw 1941.
German concetration camp in Auschwitz
Victims of the Soviets,
Eastern Poland, 1940.
The Katyń
Massacre
5 March 1940.
The protocol
sentencing to death
more the 20.000
Polish officers
Teheran Conference, Nov. 28, 1943-Dec. 1, 1943
(from the left: Stalin, F.D.Roosevelt, W.Churchill)
Warsaw Insurgents, August 1944.
German heavy mortar ”Karl’’ shelling Warsaw, August
1944.
• On 1st August Hitler
gave an order to kill all
inhabitants of Warsaw
• the „Slaughter of
Wola district” – ca.
40.000 victims of mass
executions within 3
days
• Numerous mass
killings after
withdrawal of the
order
Genocide
Democratic
State
• Over 150 titles of
insurgent press –
issued by all political
movements
• Laws issued by
authorities
• Sovereign state
attributes
• Civil society –
organizing everyday
life in the city
1586 Polish Special Duties Flight , Brinidsi, Italy,
August 1944.
“Further, having familiarized myself more closely with the
Warsaw adventure, I am convinced that the Warsaw action
represents a reckless adventure...”
Joseph Stalin to Winston Churchill, August 16, 1944.
‘’Poland is our oldest ally in this war…Poland is a
country which I, as an Englishmen, am proud to call an
ally…I would like to make an appeal to the British
Nation…HELP FOR WARSAW!’’
Lt John Ward, a British war correspondent, despatch sent from Warsaw on
September 6, 1944.
Warsaw Rising death toll: 18.000 Home Army soldiers,
180.000 civilians
Death of the city – Warsaw after the Rising…
Two uprisings – a comparison…
Paris – August 1944
Warsaw – January 1945
The Yalta Conference
Territorial change – post-war Poland marked in
pink, pre-war Poland marked with red line
Political persecutions
The trial of Sixteen
Cavalry Capt. Witold Pilecki
SUMMARY
THREE LEVELS OF WARSAW RISING’S SIGNIFICANCE:
• LOCAL – identity of the city of Warsaw
• NATIONAL – Warsaw Rising as an independent Poland
• GLOBAL – understanding of XX century as a century of
totalitarian regimes